Point Arena, California

Point Arena, formerly known as Punta Arena (Spanish for "Sandy Point") at an elevation of . Operators like Western Union often hired women because they were cheaper labor than the men. In 2002, AT&T applied for a permit from the EPA to connect an existing optical fiber conduit to the cable station, since further construction would cause incidental damage to the habitat of the endangered Point Arena mountain beaver.

Geography

The city of Point Arena is located in southwestern Mendocino County at .

Geology

thumb|Point Arena pier and cove from [[California Coastal National Monument|Stornetta Public Lands]]

The San Andreas Fault runs out to sea at Alder Creek near Manchester, about north of Point Arena. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake was strongly felt at Point Arena and irreparably damaged the Point Arena Lighthouse, which was then torn down and rebuilt.

Ecology

A variety of fauna and flora occur in the Point Arena area which is a range demarcation for occurrence of some species. For example, the California giant salamander occurs to the south while the Pacific giant salamander occurs to the north. It is also the type locality for the Point Arena mountain beaver, Aplodontia rufa nigra, which is federally listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 as endangered, and is considered a mammalian species of special concern by the State of California. According to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the habitat for this subspecies of mountain beaver lies only within a area around Point Arena. The biggest threat to the PAMB is loss of habitat, and it was officially listed as an endangered species on December 12, 1991. Much local folklore revolves around this mysterious creature.

The Point Arena State Marine Reserve & Point Arena State Marine Conservation Area are two marine protected areas that extend offshore from Point Arena. Sea Lion Cove State Marine Conservation Area and Saunders Reef State Marine Conservation Area lie south of Point Arena. Like underwater parks, these marine protected areas help conserve ocean wildlife and marine ecosystems.

Sound levels in Point Arena are relatively quiet, with many locations at night-time dominated by natural sounds, such as those of the surf. The firm of Earth Metrics Inc., who prepared the Noise Element of the Point Arena General Plan, found that, even considering the presence of logging trucks on main city streets, composite sound levels rarely exceed 55 L<sub>eq</sub>. The maximum acceptable sound level specified in that General Plan Element is 60 L<sub>eq</sub> for residential areas.

Demographics

thumb|Downtown and the Point Arena Mercantile, 2012

thumb|Groshen House, Point Arena 2012

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Point Arena had a population of 460. The population density was . The racial makeup of Point Arena was 281 (61.1%) White, 2 (0.4%) African American, 34 (7.4%) Native American, 0 (0.0%) Asian, 1 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 76 (16.5%) from other races, and 66 (14.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 141 persons (30.7%).

The whole population lived in households. There were 196 households, out of which 55 (28.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 56 (28.6%) were married-couple households, 25 (12.8%) were cohabiting couple households, 55 (28.1%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 60 (30.6%) had a male householder with no partner present. 77 households (39.3%) were one person, and 42 (21.4%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.35.

The age distribution was 100 people (21.7%) under the age of 18, 35 people (7.6%) aged 18 to 24, 92 people (20.0%) aged 25 to 44, 129 people (28.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 104 people (22.6%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.5 males.

The whole population lived in households, no one lived in non-institutionalized group quarters and no one was institutionalized.

There were 192 households, 57 (29.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 62 (32.3%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 25 (13.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 13 (6.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 20 (10.4%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 3 (1.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 71 households (37.0%) were one person and 28 (14.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.34. There were 100 families (52.1% of households); the average family size was 3.08.

The age distribution was 112 people (24.9%) under the age of 18, 31 people (6.9%) aged 18 to 24, 116 people (25.8%) aged 25 to 44, 132 people (29.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 58 people (12.9%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 40.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.0 males.

There were 225 housing units at an average density of 166.7 per square mile, of the occupied units 87 (45.3%) were owner-occupied and 105 (54.7%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.4%; the rental vacancy rate was 8.7%. 189 people (42.1% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 260 people (57.9%) lived in rental housing units.

2000

At the 2000 census, the median income for a household in the city was $27,083, and the median family income was $32,885. Males had a median income of $21,042 versus $15,000 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,591. About 24.1% of families and 26.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.0% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The city has three high schools, namely Point Arena High School, South Coast Continuation High School, and the Pacific Community Charter High School. Students are allowed to cross-enroll and take courses at both the Point Arena High and Charter High schools, granting Point Arena students access to a broad choice of curriculum. Several feeder schools bring students through grammar school before sending them to Point Arena High School or the Charter School, meaning that the schools draw from a large pool of students in southern Mendocino and northern Sonoma counties.

Government

Point Arena is governed by an elected five-member city council, which includes the mayor.

In the state legislature, Point Arena is in , and .

Federally, Point Arena is in .